Plot to kill forces chief foiled

A ringed newspaper photograph of Sir Michael, the head of Britain's armed forces, was discovered along with high explosives during a raid in Naples.

The alarming find came as police arrested 28 Pakistani terror suspects, all aged between 20 and 48, after a raid on a third floor flat in the rundown Forcella area of Naples on Thursday.

Also discovered was a kilo of explosive, 165ft of fuse and detonators.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence could not confirm the threat but said: "In his position, Sir Michael knows he must be a possible target for terrorists.

"I am sure any relevant information would be assessed by his security advisers who would decide whether any changes in arrangements are necessary."

Sir Michael, the most senior military adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, is expected to visit Nato's southern headquarters in Naples later this month.

A spokesman at Naples police headquarters said: "We are treating very seriously the discovery of a newspaper with a ringed photograph of Sir Michael Boyce."

It is the second time Italian police have unearthed a possible plot to target the UK with terrorism.

Last month, police arrested five Moroccan men in an abandoned farmhouse in the town of Badia Polesine near Rovigo where they had been squatting. They found a kilo of plastic explosives in the derelict building, wrapped up in a sock and hidden in a pile of dirty laundry, and maps of central London and the London Underground.